By Corday Gaskins
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The co-founder of a Baltimore-based social justice organization said Tuesday that his group will seek legislation in the General Assembly next year to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
Dayvon Love of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle said during a meeting at Towson University that any tax revenue generated from the sale of marijuana should be reinvested in communities that have been the hardest hit by the War on Drugs.
“The Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle wants the tax revenue to go to the communities that are affected the most by the recreation use of marijuana,” Love said.
Love, a Towson alum, also urged activists from throughout the state to get involved in politics to bring positive change to cities like Baltimore.
“It’s better for people from different districts to get involved,” Love said. “People from Prince George’s, Montgomery and Cecil count[ies] will have a more significant impact on the legislators.”
Love said he and his organization plan to change the discussion around Baltimore and regional politics by adding community voices into political conversations through policy research, advocacy and community organizing.
Love said he fought for bail reform and mandatory minimums on illegal handguns in Maryland in 2017. Love said cash bail is a way for society to keep the poor in jail while the rich go free.
“If you are not a flight risk in court or danger to society, you should be released without paying,” Love said.
The Leaders of the Beautiful Struggle helped weakened a proposed bill creating mandatory minimums on illegal handgun possession in Baltimore City in 2017, Love said. He said the group took this action because people in bad parts of Baltimore need to protect themselves.
“if you live in a dangerous neighborhood where everyone carries guns, then I can understand why someone would have a weapon too,” Love said.
The Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a group that formed after the death of Freddie Gray in 2015, will hold its next meeting on Oct. 23 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore.